Provincetown police permit hate crimes

Tuesday

Oct 30, 2007 at 2:10 AM

It is astonishing that the Provincetown Police Department has decided to treat as free speech a recent episode in which Daniel Coburn and others in his company were shoved and had rocks thrown at them while being taunted as "faggots."

It is astonishing that the Provincetown Police Department has decided to treat as free speech a recent episode in which Daniel Coburn and others in his company were shoved and had rocks thrown at them while being taunted as "faggots."

Throwing stones at people is an assault even if no one is hit. Intentionally shoving people is an act of battery. And anti-gay epithets supply probable cause for a finding of an anti-gay motive, so as to trigger the hate crime and civil rights crime statutes. Hate crimes do not become lawful because the perpetrator assaulted a group of gay men rather than a "specific individual."

It is apparent that the Provincetown police know who perpetrated the attacks on Mr. Coburn and his fellows. But they refuse to act despite a stated policy of giving hate crimes the highest priority for arrest and prosecution.

This fumble sharpens the Anti-Violence Project's concerns for the safety of GLBT visitors to Provincetown, following the mishandled investigation of the Richard Hall gay bashing and the violent arrest of Barry Scott for criticizing the police. The promise of Provincetown's model "Plan for Overcoming Hate Incidents" rings hollow.